Silhouette Project
I think of this work as “static dance.” This is a bit of an oxymoron since movement is a central element of dance, but what photography can do that dance cannot is freeze a moment in time and allow us to contemplate it. I love the expressive potential of movement in dance, but I also love slowing things down and thinking about the expressive potential of a single gesture. Since I am most interested in the overall form created by the human body, I make silhouettes, with just a little detail inside the outline to provide a sense of depth and enhance the form.
Like the ancient Greeks, I see the male body as beautiful in its own right, but in my photographs I try to move beyond a simple celebration of the body and capture a sense of emotion in my images. Life, for me, is often rather mysterious and even puzzling at times. At one moment, struggle might mingle with hope and a touch of sadness to create a complex mix of feelings, and an hour later everything might have changed. This is what makes life rich, but also what makes it challenging. I hope my photographs capture at least a little of this richness and challenge.
I primarily use myself as the model because an important part of my process is exploring the positions I can take on with my own body. I am the dancer in an improvisational dance, rather than just an observer providing feedback to a model and occasionally snapping the shutter.
The camera I used for making these photographs is a Hasselblad 503CW medium format camera, loaded with traditional black and white print film. Since I cannot trigger the shutter directly when I am in the picture, I fabricated a mechanism that allows me to trigger a timer connected to the camera’s shutter, once I am in position in front of the camera.
![Silhouette with Drum](https://bghooke.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/A-2006-09-H2-12.jpg)
Silhouette with Drum
![Silhouette With Ball](https://bghooke.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/A-2005-10-H2-12.jpg)
Silhouette With Ball
![Silhouette Pulling Rope](https://bghooke.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/A-2005-11-H3-09.jpg)
Silhouette Pulling Rope
![Silhouette Lifting Fabric](https://bghooke.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/A-2006-04-H3-12.jpg)
Silhouette Lifting Fabric
![Silhouette Grasping Rope](https://bghooke.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/A-2006-06-H1-08.jpg)
Silhouette Grasping Rope
![Silhouette Arising](https://bghooke.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/A-2006-04-H3-05.jpg)
Silhouette Arising
![Silhouette with Hooked Arms](https://bghooke.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/A-2006-06-H2-11.jpg)
Silhouette with Hooked Arms
![Silhouette Pair in Tension](https://bghooke.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/A-2006-06-H2-02.jpg)
Silhouette Pair in Tension
![Silhouette Pair with Pole](https://bghooke.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/A-2006-06-H2-09.jpg)
Silhouette Pair with Pole
![Silhouette Pair Pulling Rope](https://bghooke.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/A-2006-06-H2-06.jpg)
Silhouette Pair Pulling Rope